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None of this stuff was Covid. Sears killed itself. It was dying in the mid 1990s. Eddie bled money off to keep Kmart afloat, never innovated Kmart, poured billions into Shop Your Way merchandise giveaways. One giant mess of just poor planning and ineptitude, lack of marketing and so on. Pier...

I have one that had that class action lawsuit about the blades so they sent me a $70 coupon code. I used it to buy my mother a refurb one for Christmas last year, she uses it to grind flour.

I got one of the digital Speed Queens in 2016. Same day I got a Samsung Addwash. I had had a Haier Top Loader and GE front loader prior to it. The GE bearing went and the Haier had been dead a few months it was a better model but I paid very little for it and the drain pump had gone again. So...

The Thunder, particularly the 11 amp (aka domestic) was an excellent machine. The rest of them didn’t quite compare. I have many of them and still regularly find them.

Cleaned reasonably well until the filter clogged Wal-Mart briefly had a version with a windtunnel powerhead which was better.

I had three but sold the one that needed a brush roller bearing. I have a blue and a green one at present. It’s not that bad. The Westinghouse unplugged would have most of the necessary parts if you could find one except the motors most likely wouldn’t work due to the battery vs AC.

I too am in the US and always liked the look of these. Fantom was probably at the height of its popularity when these were out.

The big disadvantage to the single size basin is if you have a lot of area to vacuum you might be stuck changing the water more, but if it’s easier to change the basin then it might even that out.

Mark Where did you hear the two speed was at the limit for airflow for a water vac? If they were at the limit maybe the 30% airflow improvement is at the powerhead which I’m sure could be achieved by streamlining the airflow paths in the powerhead to eliminate airflow turbulence and leaks...

Got my two speed black from goodwill for $20. Best deal I ever got. I did have to clean out the powerhead and replace the side spinner brushes.

I’m like 10 minutes from a Sears and never could I have predicted it would be amongst the last when I used to go to dozens of them on every vacation I took. We still have a Kmart too.

Lowe’s did not buy the Kenmore brand nor the Craftsman brand. Craftsman was bought by Stanley and it’s a weird almost perpetual licensing agreement which allows Sears to use it as long as Sears exists. The Kenmore thing is Eddie’s way to try and capitalize on the Kenmore brand. The colors are...

It’s not a waste of cash to spend $2500 on a vacuum when you consider they usually last decades. Regardless there will be people that buy them.

I still find Fantoms fairly regularly around here, I just bought one for $6.99 at a thrift store a month ago. I usually only buy Thunders because they’re better made

Filters Check eBay, they turn up pretty regularly

I’ve owned a few Dysons, they never managed to outclean the Fantom Thunder 11amp. Couldn’t even design a better cleaning vac then that old design after all these years using their own technology.

If you intend on regularly using it disassemble it every 6-8 months and clean the motor fan vanes with a pipe cleaner (or if you notice the pitch of the motormsound start to increase). It will get large dust in the motor and plays a part in wearing it out.

I have the Kenmore version but it hasn’t been used in years, it’s a good vac though.

Physical similarity is the only thing it shares with the Lightning, the Lightning was pretty junky and I’m lucky to have several working ones. The Fantom Thunder (well 11 amp domestic) and Kenmore versions were their best machines.

HEPA filters are very easy to get for these. I bought three just a few months ago. It’s been a while but last I ran the part numbers Sears Parts still had HEPA filters in stock. There should be plenty out there. If I didn’t already have tons of Thunders and 11 amp ones I’d probably have...